Stutters and Lag
Short freezes even when your FPS number is high: what causes them and how to make them go away.
A stutter is a single long frame: the counter can say 300 FPS while the game visibly hitches. Different causes, different fixes:
| You notice | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| A hitch every few seconds, steady | Java cleaning up memory | Turn on Run on Java 21 (how). This is exactly what it fixes. |
| Freezes when you turn or move fast | New chunks being built | Lower render distance a little; on Balanced or Extreme mode Sour trims more. |
| Freezes when a resource pack or shader loads | The pack loading | Normal once; Fast Pack Switching keeps it short. |
| Spikes only on a server | Network, not your PC | Check Ping and TPS. A rising ping or falling TPS is the server or your connection. |
| Stutters in the background | Alt-tabbed | Dynamic FPS lowers the frame rate while unfocused on purpose. |
Recording or streaming at the same time? The encoder competes with the game for the GPU. Use your GPU's hardware encoder (NVENC, AMF or Quick Sync), not x264.